7CTOs allowed me to work with a group of like minded individuals that are involved in the local San Diego technology scene. It also provide me with some new perspectives and tools to re engage me in the technology business I so love.

“The key link between happiness and leadership effectiveness, the researchers say, seems to be that happy people typically demonstrate a certain management style called transformational leadership.

Transformational leaders are skilled at things like inspiring and motivating their team, stimulating their team intellectually, and mentoring their subordinates. (A popular example of a transformational leader is Nelson Mandela.) Studies have found there’s a strong correlation between transformational leadership and leadership effectiveness.”

There is an opportunity to relieve the drought of qualified software developers that has driven up prices and is stunting startup growth: A serious alternative to the $100,000 four-year college degree wouldn’t even need to be accredited—it would merely need to teach students the skills that startups are desperate for, and that universities couldn’t care less about.

A couple roadblocks standing in the way of digital currencies replacing traditional ones.

“First, customers need an economic incentive to use these digital currencies, but up until now the cost saving has mainly been for merchants. Second, the value of digital currencies can be volatile, which exposes customers to exchange rate risks; as a result, many people hesitate to keep their money in those digital currencies. Finally, a range of issues, including negative press, digital wallet systems with unwieldy user experiences, and a relatively small number of ways to convert dollars to bitcoins make a customer’s first foray into the realm of digital currencies a high hurdle to clear. All of these challenges are clearly solvable, and lots of dynamic start-ups are currently hard at work solving them – but they do present a significant challenge to the adoption of digital currencies by retail customers in the short term.”

At 7CTOs we resonate deeply with this article as we strive to make good CTOs great. The article is a great read and we’ll summarize the 8 points for you here:

Strong engineering discipline

Experience

A large, quality network

Knowledge of the full stack of the technology you’re working with

A practical approach

Good communication skills

Strategic thinking

Knowledge of the landscape of tools

I remember when I was a boy, my Dad would take me to the hardware store with him and after a few minutes I would realize we’re not really there to buy anything, we’re just there to scope out the tools. It’s had a profound impact on every part of my life as I learn to scope out the technology landscape for the new tools that popup.

In January, the company raised $1 million in financing, bringing to $1.4 million its total funds raised to date. And Fashion Metric has moved into 1,500 square feet of office space downtown at the IBC Bank Building and it has hired seven employees and has two job openings.

And recently, Fashion Metric hired two senior heavy hitters in the Austin data science community: Andy Terrel as chief technology officer and Travis Brady, director of data science, to build out its products.

7CTOs congratulates Andy Terrel on his new role as CTO at Fashion Metric!